Louisiana state senator switches party

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana: State Senator Rick Ward III has become the third member of the Louisiana State Legislature to switch political affiliation in recent weeks. He is switching from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party because, he says, "I’ve been in the Legislature now for two years and really the road the Democratic Party is going is not an area I feel comfortable with." He continued, "As I dealt with more and more issues it became more clear to me that’s where I stand politically."[1]

State Representative Jim Fannin and State Senator Elbert Guillory have made similar party switches since May. Ward's move to the GOP gives the party a two-thirds super-majority in the Senate.